1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an animal call and more particularly to an animal call capable of imitating the sounds of different animals and producing variable pitched sounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of bird and animal calls have been devised. One common type utilizes a metal or plastic reed which is vibrated when air is blown across the reed. Various reed-type calls are manufactured and sold by, for example, Herter's, Inc., of Mitchell, S. Dak., and are illustrated in their various catalogs. Reed-type calls typically produce a harsh, unnatural sound. They also usually produce a loud sound which must be muffled to be effective, further distorting the sound. Reeds also sometimes crack in very cold weather.
Another common type of animal call is one utilizing an elastic rubber band stretched between two anchor points and across a mouthpiece opening through which air can be blown to vibrate the band and thus produce a sound. Many callers believe that rubber band, when stretched and vibrated, more closely simulates a vocal cord than does a metal or plastic reed, and thereby produces a more natural sound. Such elastic band-type calls are illustrated, for example, in Luch U.S. Pat. No. 2,470,823 and Carhart U.S. Pat. No. 2,584,549. The aforementioned Luch patent also suggests that mouthpieces of different sizes can be used with the elastic band to produce different sound pitches.
In elastic band-type calls, it has also been suggested that the tension in the elastic band can be varied to vary the pitch of the sound produced. A bird call using such a concept is disclosed, for example, in Harbin U.S. Pat. No. 2,182,692.
However, a limitation of most available bird and animal calls is that they are for the most part capable of producing only one basic sound pitch and suitable for calling only one species of animal or bird. Thus, if a hunter desires to hunt both ducks and geese using a call, he might have to carry both a duck call and a separate goose call and one could easily be mistaken for the other. Similarly, if a hunter desires to hunt, for example, both deer and various predators using a call, he would have to carry several different call devices. The aforementioned Herter's catalog, for example, advertises different call devices for different bird species including ducks, geese, pheasant, doves, crows and turkeys. The same catalog carries different call devices for calling racoons, squirrels, cottontail rabbits, elk, and several different call devices for calling deer. There are also different call devices carried in the same catalog for calling different predators such as foxes, wolves, bobcats, mountain lions, and bears.
Another disadvantage of many call devices, particularly those using a reed, is that they are incapable of producing even slight variations of pitch to reflect the fact that different animals within the same species have slightly different calls. Therefore the hunter of, for example, deer, may have to carry several different deer calls, each with a slight difference in pitch for satisfactory results.
Because of the multiplicity of different calls for calling different bird and animal species and even the same species, the serious hunter must acquire a bewildering number of different calls and take several of them with him on any given hunting expedition.
Accordingly, there is a need for a single call device capable of calling more than one species of animal or bird. There is also a need for a single call device having an easily variable pitch which can be varied both over a wide range for calling different species and within a narrow range for calling different animals of the same species.